UK Custom Shop Limited: Wildcat Predator 12 (for .22)

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Odd Job

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I recently purchased a Predator 12, mainly because my other suppressors are all muzzle-forward designs and I wanted a reflex suppressor.

The Wildcat Predator 12 is made here in the UK by a company called UK Custom Shop Limited.

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It is a huge suppressor best suited for a bench gun. It is long and heavy: the weight is 719g and the length is 286mm if you have a 150mm reflex tube. More on that later.
Here it is on my Thompson/Center R55 Benchmark:

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The P12 is a modular suppressor in three parts:

1) The bridge. This is the part that screws onto your barrel. You can order different bridges, for different thread requirements. The most common one I see here in the UK is 1/2" x 20 tpi (UNF). However my R55 barrel is threaded 1/2" x 28 tpi (UNEF), so that is the bridge I specified when ordering the P12.
The bridge has a forward facing thread and a rear-facing thread. The forward facing thread is for the main baffle stack (which is called the diffuser by the manufacturer). The rearward facing thread is for the reflex tube.

2) The diffuser. This is the unit that houses the baffle stack. The front of this diffuser is colour-coded to the intended calibre of use. In this case the diffuser is coloured purple as it is for .22 (not just .22 rimfire but could be used for any .22).

3) The reflex tube. This screws onto the back of the bridge and rearwards over your barrel (but not contacting the barrel). The company supplies a bushing that you can lathe out the center of, so that you can have a snug fit between the back of the reflex tube and your barrel. If you know the diameter of your barrel the company will lathe that bushing for you and include it in the kit.
I have elected not to use it, since I don't want a suppressor making two points of contact on my barrel. The bridge has several holes in it so that gas from the muzzle of the barrel has rearward access to the reflex tube. You can therefore regard the reflex tube as an extension of the initial air space provided by the bridge.
The interesting part about the reflex tube is you can get it in different lengths, from 110mm to 250mm. Mine is 150mm, because that is the longest one that can extend rearward on my R55 barrel.

So it really is a modular suppressor, since you specify a number of things before ordering:

1) Bridge thread
2) Diffuser calibre
3) Reflex tube length
4) Rear bushing inner diameter

At a later stage you could buy another bridge to allow you to use that suppressor on a gun with different threads.
You could also buy a longer or shorter reflex tube.
Finally you could buy a different diffuser stack (taking into account the fact that you might have to change the bridge also if the major calibre changed a great deal). In the UK, the purchasing of a different diffuser would be the same as buying a new suppressor since it is the prime component of this suppressor.

Here is a picture of the suppressor dismantled. The bottom left bushing is how it is when it leaves the factory without being turned on the lathe.

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And here is a radiograph labelled to show how this suppressor is assembled:

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To give an idea how far backward it extends over the barrel, here is a radiograph of it attached to my R55 Benchmark. The red arrows indicate the shoulder of the threaded end of the barrel.

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Continued...
 
This is the front of the suppressor with its colour-coded diffuser core:

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Here is the diffuser as seen form the side and rear. It has a heavy steel blast baffle with a flared cone to deflect as much gas around the path of the bullet to the side and rearward:

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The diffuser core can be unscrewed for cleaning:

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Here is the core on its own:

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All the above pictures are from before the suppressor was used, hence no residues

This is a picture of the inside of the bridge looking towards the barrel:

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This was after I fired 100 rounds through it, and you can see the residues clearly. Those 16 holes around the edge provide access for the gas from the muzzle to go rearward into the reflex tube. Here you can see where the residues initially collect on that blast baffle, also after 100 rounds:

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Continued...
 
To understand the reflex flow of gas, I have two radiographs of the suppressor after 500 rounds were fired through it. See A and B below:

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In A, the flow of gas out of the muzzle, deflected backward by the blast baffle and through the bridge holes into the reflex tube is denoted by the green arrow.
The green shaded area on the opposite side of the tube in A shows how small this air space is (you need to imagine it completely encircling the inner reflex tube).
Also in A you can see several large flakes of residue, denoted by red arrows. They give the false impression that the large central void is part of the reflex chamber. In fact those residues are located in the gap between the outer and inner reflex tube, which is the area indicated by the green shaded area in A. The large central void is where your barrel goes.

To prove it, I rotated the suppressor about 60 degrees and X-rayed it again. The radiograph can be seen in B. Note how the residues are now seen tangentially within the reflex space (arrowed red in B).

In practice, the suppressor is not as quiet as the A-TEC CMM4(6) or the ASE-Utra Dual Rimfire, at this stage of testing (which is after only 500 rounds of testing).

My current theory is that the reflex tube contributes very little to the initial suppression of the discharge. However I noticed two area where this suppressor seems to have greater benefits than the other two suppressors (but it needs more testing):

1) It seems that the action of the R55 Benchmark is much less fouled even when firing the same ammunition, with the P12. It may well be that blowback of residues are more preferentially diverted to the reflex tube.

2) The accuracy seems to be better. This was with RWS Target Rifle and CCI Standard. This is something I need to look at in more detail. I have a theory about this but I'm keeping that to myself for now!

I have a plan to determine to what degree the reflex tube assists suppression. I intend to test it without the reflex tube and also with varying numbers of bridge holes plugged. I suspect I could block all the holes and get similar suppression (but possibly a dirtier action).

I'll let you know what happens...
 
I don't think I've ever really seen the inner structure of a reflex can, thanks for posting this! The drop in back pressure and fouling would be nice for a semi-auto .22, but it seems to have some kind of major drawbacks, namely weighing as much as a steel .30 cal can and not being as quiet as your other rimfire cans. Are these popular over there?
 
These suppressors are popular in centerfire calibres and the company has other muzzle-forward cans for rimfire use.
I am disappointed so far with the P12 on my .22 from a suppression point of view but I need to shoot it a bit more and do some more testing on it.
 
That is a wonderful semi-technical review. Thank you very much. Hopefully us Yanks will soon be able to buy these off the shelf.

I have to ask, how on earth do you happen to have a X-Ray (radiograph)?
 
I have to ask, how on earth do you happen to have a X-Ray (radiograph)?

It's my job. Well, not X-raying suppressors but X-raying people :)

I have an arrangement with the research office attached to radiology to use the equipment for X-raying components such as these.
 
Great review! I like the modular design.
I am disappointed so far with the P12 on my .22 from a suppression point of view but I need to shoot it a bit more and do some more testing on it.

The diffuser section appears to be machined from a solid piece of aluminum. The way they made it, you essentially have a series of closely spaced "washers". The machining gives them an irregular scooped surface which should help create turbulence, slowing the gasses. But overall they are spaced too closely together. If you could replace them with 3 or 4 "K" baffles, you would probably get a noticeable improvement in sound reduction. I don't know if that would be cost effective, or if you could find a machine shop that would make them for you.

Or just use it as it is, and enjoy. Looks great!
 
The diffuser section appears to be machined from a solid piece of aluminum. The way they made it, you essentially have a series of closely spaced "washers". The machining gives them an irregular scooped surface which should help create turbulence, slowing the gasses. But overall they are spaced too closely together. If you could replace them with 3 or 4 "K" baffles, you would probably get a noticeable improvement in sound reduction. I don't know if that would be cost effective, or if you could find a machine shop that would make them for you.

That may be the case. I am not going to mess with the diffuser, because I have 12 other suppressors to test and they have different baffles.
What I am definitely going to mess with is the reflex tube. I blocked the holes with resin and I'll be doing a rough test of it soon (I want to see if there is a noticeable increase in the report of the shot).
 
I blocked the holes with resin and I'll be doing a rough test of it soon (I want to see if there is a noticeable increase in the rep

If I'm understanding right, you blocked the holes in the bridge that feed gasses back between the inner and outer reflex tubes? If so, should be interesting to see just how much suppression the reflex area is contributing
 
Yes, those are the ones I blocked. Will be interesting!
Also, I have bought a shorter tube to try (112mm vs 150mm). Not sure I will be able to detect the difference just by ear. I'm looking around for someone in the UK to do some proper testing for me.
 
I bought a second, shorter reflex tube so that I can use this suppressor with my Rimfire Magic. Here you can see the P12 with the short tube attached, which is 112mm. The other tube alongside is the original 150mm tube.

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Comparison of the two reflex tubes:

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Finally I did indeed perform the test with the blocked bridge holes. I made plugs for those holes with casting resin and attached only the inner tube of the reflex unit to make sure those plugs stayed put:

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When I fired the suppressor like that, I could not hear any difference (to my ear, admittedly) compared to using an unblocked bridge, with a reflex tube attached.
In another test, I removed the inner tube buttressing the plugs, and fired some more rounds, looking to see if the pressure was enough to dislodge any of them. They weren't moved, the effect was the same.

I then pushed out some of the plugs (6 of 16) and fired the suppressor without the reflex tube again. Unburned powder came back through those holes and the report of the shot was louder.

It's the sort of test that needs to be repeated with the right sound metering equipment, but overall it seems to me that for a .22 at least, there is not much pressure into the reflex tube.
 
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